Friendship, Expressed With Food

Chocolate Dessert

Some friends visting from Calgary took me out for dinner. Here's the dessert that one of them ordered.

Chocolate & Fudge Shop

A visit to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate shop at 1017 Robson Street is a delight to both the eyes and the nostrils!

Seattle Visit: Day 2

The morning of our first full day in Seattle started off with walking Mike's dog, Rufus. He's about 120 lbs but absolutely the gentlest dog you'd ever meet. Once in a while his two feline housemates annoy him, which prompts a big paw smacking against the floor. Other than that, he's just a big softie.
We drove into Seattle and picked up our friend, Hannah. After getting some sandwiches at a local supermarket deli we drove across I-90 to Mercer Island.
We parked near the off-ramp and had an impromptu picnic on a grassy field that sits over top of the freeway.

The police closed the I-90 bridge at 12:45pm and then let all the pedestrians and bicyclists on a few minutes later. From there we watched the forthcoming air show.








I love my Canon G9 camera but with just a 6X optical zoom it was ill-equipped to properly capture these magnificent airplanes flying by at very fast velocities. In my earlier posting I've published some of the photos Mike shot with his 200 - 400mm zoom lens.

The most amazing thing about the airshow is how incredibly loud the planes are when they fly overhead at lower altitudes. When they're really motoring, it sounds like the air is literally being split apart. I'd never seen an airshow before and was so impressed that I'd like to make this an annual event!

After the show we dropped off Hannah and then joined some others at the P.F. Chang's at Bellevue Square. Not exactly a traditional Asian meal but the atmosphere and food are always top notch.

Later in the evening we drove downtown so that Danny could join Hannah and her friend for the midnight release of Stephenie Meyer's new book. I'm not familiar with this author but apparently she's all the rage with 15 year-old girls.
While the young ones were waiting at the Barnes & Noble, Mike & I met up with my friend, Ahmed. The three of us enjoyed some great desserts at The Cheesecake Factory.
A long day but a very memorable one!

BBQ Photos

These photos were shot Saturday evening but I've been ridiculously busy lately.

Prawn skewers
Assorted fruit: Rainer Cherries, Kiwi Fruit, Lichees, Red Grapes
Sharon's magnificent trifle
Clara's Margarita Pie (though Sharon's recipe!)

Canada Day at Granville Island

I'm cheating a bit with this first shot. Danny carried through with his promise to make me & my mom some special strawberry crepes. I just commend mi amigo for being quite a good chef!

We did make it down to Granville Island around noon and explored every facet of the Island. They put on a really good show for young & old this year, though perhaps a bit more fun for the younger set.
This dog is a Pomeranian and one of many "little dogs" that have been rescued and were putting on quite the show on an obstacle course.

Leonard's Bakery

Another favourite on Andy's list was Leonard's bakery, famous for their hole-less Portuguese donuts, otherwise known as Malasadas.




We bought half a dozen to take back with us! Of course, I had to inform my friend Kristi about all of this, as I know it would make her extremely jealous!

A Chinese Dessert That I Like!

For years I've been saying that while I love Chinese food, I don't like the desserts they offer. My little joke is that every Chinese restaurant should hire a German chef to make delicious Bavarian desserts.

But today I went out to Dim Sum with my [Chinese] Aunt Mary. And she insisted we try an interesting dessert consisting of green tea and poppy seeds. It was indeed delicious!

Bad, Bad, Bad, But Oh So Gooood!

I've discovered a new addiction. Take a shortbread cookie and adorn it with Nutella and you end up with one heavenly treat!

From the photo, you may think that this is a normal sized cookie but in fact, it's about 15cm in diameter! Yes it's bad but I'm not eating this culinary masterpiece 24/7 ... only 16/7. Then I work out the rest of the time! :-)

Good People, Good Food!

I had many people to visit this weekend, so I rented a car to get around in a more reasonable time period. Without it I could have never accomplished all that I needed to.

The car was a Buick Allure. I'd never had driven this model before. It was stylish, had a very quiet engine, and a smooth ride. It also had a Satellite radio featuring XM Radio. I'd never experienced this before so it was quite a treat. In addition to some great music channels such as this one, it also featured talk radio channels from BBC, CNN, and Fox News. Perhaps the most interesting channel was one called "POTUS 08". I'll leave it to you to figure out what was on it - my politically savvy American readers should instantly know!

Here's a shot of my friend, Monsieur S., and his long hose! :-)

And here's his sister's beautiful dog, Cory. What a wonderful little guy he turned out to be!!

It was my first time to see an iPhone up close. It belonged to one of my friend's cousins, who was visiting from California.

Finally, here's a selection of photos of the great food I was lucky enough to consume this day:

Failed Bread Recovery

I'm a big believer in not wasting food. So here's my first attempt to make something [sort of] edible out of my recent bread disaster:

Was it the most delicious dessert I've ever had? Nope. Did I get sick from it? Nope.

First Egg Nog Latte!

When buying 4L of milk I noticed that Egg Nog is back in the stores. I didn't think this happened until December but no objections from me. I must confess that I have a real addiction to Egg Nog Lattes! I typically put in 1/3 Egg Nog and 2/3 Milk. The end result is like a coffee and dessert all in one!



So what's this last item, you ask? A blueberry cobbler. Did I make it? Well ... no. Let's just say that I have a very nice mom and for some reason she thinks that her "dear son" is constantly starving. Was it tasty? Absolutely delicious!!! What you see here is the second half. The entire thing disappeared today and I just don't know how!

Does this make you hungry?

A friend of mine, a hockey writer from Florida, came into town, along with "his" Florida Panthers. He joined my mom & I for dinner. We went to The Keg, where I had The Billy Miner for dessert. Yum!